michelle my belle

Rest of our Vacay!

Who would have thought that gluing a bunch of shoes to a board and spray painting it gold would turn into a great piece of art! This is in a wonderful shoe store in downtown Santa Cruz.

On our way down to SF area/Santa Cruz we stopped overnight in Healdsburg in Sonoma. What a darling town with tons of cute shops and beautiful countryside. My kids and myself fell in love with Powell's Candy Shop. This shop is a must see if you get to Healdsburg. Full of nostalgia and wonderful details including a Wonka themed party room. I just checked out their website and it says that there will be a 5th location opening in Bend, OR! oh la la fun stuff!

We didn't actually get coffee here but I just fell in love with the look of the structure.

Our main reason for this trip was to visit Gary's mom, her wonderful husband Sid and Gary's brothers Mark and David.

I'll leave you with some crazy pics of my kids in white masks given to them by Grandma Sharon. We even walked around the block with them wearing these. Did people stare! Jess just kept on waving. funny girl.

Taking the Scenic Route for once!

(last Wed.) We planned on leaving late morning but didn't actually make it out the door till LATE afternoon! But, we were finally on our way to see Gary's family and a little extra. We decided that we were going to slow down on this trip and enjoy the scenery a bit more. Which included the Dutch Bros. Coffee stop! yum yum!

Then it was off to the Redwoods on the coast of California. You can check out my daughters blog (sidebar) for her commentating and opinions of the trip.

I loved these Paul Bunyan and Babe statues outside the Trees of Mystery!

I can't say my kids were too excited initially about the "trees". They did end up enjoying themselves and both thought it was pretty cool after all. I'm sure the ice cream stops helped!

More tomorrow and I'll try to throw some art in!

End of School-Hello Summer!

School ended last Tuesday and on Wednesday we headed down to California so I have a little back tracking to do. This is Jess and her bus driver. He's been the best and kindest bus driver either of my girls have had!

Tradition at Maple Grove is for all the teachers and staff to line up on the last day of school and wave goodbye to all the students as they leave. Brings tears to my eyes every year for the past 8 years! Especially this year since she will be going to Tukes Valley next year.

Hello summer! Hello...what am I going to do with my kids all summer!

Adventures in Camping

We went camping this past weekend with some friends and my parents up in the Hood Canal area. I haven't been camping in about 12 years! I figure it this way-we live in the country surrounded by trees, why do we need to camp! I admit it was fun... for the most part. We clammed and got oysters which was a first for me, did smores, ate and ate and played card games.

The scenery was absolutely beautiful! I managed a 10 mile run on Saturday. I love running out of town. It's such a great way to see an area. My hubby joined me for 5 miles. (this was fun since he generally rides a bicycle and doesn't enjoy running much)

It was nice to spend the weekend with my dad for Father's Day. I think us being with him camping and on the water was the perfect gift to him. This is my dad.

These are just some of the things I love about you dad!

-I love the way you laugh and enjoy laughing.
-I love how comfortable you make people around you feel.
-You are a great listener.
-You've taught me not to care what other people think.
-I love how you can fix anything!
-I love how laid back and relaxed you are.
-You've taught me to give everything 110%.

Happy Father's Day Dad! I love you.

Balancing Motherhood, Friendships and Business

Did you notice I didn't say ART! That's cause I spent no time in the studio creating today. Even though I'm supposed to be getting a few more designs done for our new catalog that will be going to print by the end of next week. I do work better under pressure!

Today was a busy day!

1. Got my kids off to school

2. Went to the grocery store picked up some groceries and a Lunchable! This isn't a normal purchase for us but my youngest was getting a reading award at school today. I told her I would bring her whatever she wanted for lunch and a Lunchable was her request! The pizza one mind you! ick!

3. Swung by the school, dropped off her Lunchable, a smiley balloon and a note telling her how proud of her that we are. (i'm really trying to do more thoughtful things, these don't come naturally to me!)

4. Back home and began to prepare dinner for my family and for my friend Tammy's family. She just went into the hospital this morning to have her spleen removed and will be layed up for a few weeks. I'm 35 years old and this was the first time I have ever soaked beans! I have graduated to a new level of cooking. lol! (maybe i should have gotten myself a lunchable) Anyways, got the big pot of soup going.

5. Load of laundry in, made the bed, finally picked up the guest room from my daughter and her friend staying in there a few weeks ago.

6. Down to the studio to begin the daunting task of paying bills. Personal and Business.

7. It's almost 12PM, off to my daughters assembly (pic above)

8. Then off to town (the bigger town to ours, Vancouver about 10-20 min. away depending on what part) to pick up paint and clear coat for the studio.

9. Back home, finish paying bills, reconciling accounts, and filing.

10. 4:30 by this time. Grabbed a few yummy chocolate chip cookies and a couple mini pumpkin muffins that Alexis just made and it's off to the bank and post office.

11. Back Home, threw on my running shoes and ran out the door while the sun was actually shining for the first time in weeks. Got in 5 miles.

12. Showered, okay actually I just quickly rinsed. No one will be the wiser! Then it was off to this....

13. Golfing with 3 friends! We had to cancel our golf date last week due to rain. Today was perfect! Our golfing skills are a long way from perfect but we had a great time laughing and visiting

14. 9:13PM leaving the golf course and it was off to the hospital to see Tammy. I did take a picture of her loveliness but I promised not to post it on my blog : )

15. 10:30PM Home! Tired, everyone's asleep, returned emails and iced my hip, blogged and now I'm off to bed. Goodnight!

Funky Fremont!

On our way back from Artfest week before last April and I toured a bit of Seattle. Okay, if you have never been to Fremont (just a few miles North of Seattle) or it's been several years... you're going to want to go!

It's full of cute shops.

The most AMAZING Cold Stone I've ever seen. I think it has to be one of the most artistic buildings I've ever laid my eyes on.

Check out this craftsmanship!

I also found the most fabulous coffee spot there in Fremont. I can't remember the name and none of my pics have it in them (maybe ETG?). Look at this chandelier and the old working cash register!

Small, well organized and charming as all get out!

Down to the details of an actual Nutmeg and a chunk of chocolate that were in little hand grinders.

We both fell in love with Fremont! Good times!

Believe It April!

My friend April came in from Detroit Monday before last. We had a little over a day here in the Portland/Vancouver area before we headed to ArtFest. So we ventured off to the Pearl District for some yummy lunch at Henry's. I had never been there before, Katy recommended it. I had the black bean veggie burger made in house, oh my, was it unbelievably good!

Of course we had to check out Anthropologie and their creative displays. If you look at this picture carefully you will notice that the things to the right are books that the hard cover is removed and the pages are just tucked into itself to make these wonderful flowerlike beauties.

We also hit Twist, always inspiring.

Couldn't resist having a memory of this funness (i know this isn't a word, but it should be!) found in Hello Portland off of NW 23rd.

We were off to a good start, but this was just the beginning of the heaps of fun that we had! As April would say "Believe It!"

I officially have a TEENAGER!

Alexis turns 13 today! I can hardly believe that my little baby is a teenager, only 3 years from driving and 5 years from graduating high school and going off to college. I'm sad at how quickly time passes by and at the same time I'm so very proud of the young woman that she's growing into.

With ski season and spring break always falling on her birthday she hasn't had a party for the past few years. I figured with this being the big 13 that I better make sure we get this one done. (or it'll be one of those things brought up in her therapy sessions later in life! -grin-)

We actually did this party a week ago and will do a family party later this evening. For the first time I used Evite. What a tool of convenience! It especially works well for a group of teenagers who constantly check their email!

It was a Surprise Party Sleep Over. They danced, giggled, ate and ate and ate, watched a movie, didn't get much sleep and made t-shirts using transfers, fabric dye and a heat press.

And, I just found out that the middle school pastor (that Lex adores) and his wife just had their baby earlier this morning so she and Alexis will have the same birthday!

Forever & Ever

My hubby & I just celebrated on March 20th our 15 year anniversary! For one, I can't believe I'm getting old enough to be married this long! And for two, we still love each other! I'm so very blessed to have such a great man in my life. (honey, thanks for puttin' up with me for so long, i love you!)

P2P

Again, a little catch up! I don't know what my blogging problem has been lately. I sure have been spending plenty of time scouring other blogs for misc. info... health, recipes, design and trends. I have been in a creative lull but maybe that has been God's plan to give me time to take care of some important family things.

Last week I took my oldest daughter on a little mid week retreat (she doesn't have school on Wednesdays so she only played hooky for one day!) to downtown Portland. We did the Passport to Purity by Dennis & Barbara Rainey. This is a "guided weekend for father and son or mother and daughter will prepare your preteen for physical changes to come, preempt peer pressure, and establish biblical principles on sex and dating. You will have the opportunity to connect with your son or daughter in a deeper way, create a heart-to-heart time for some of life's most intimate issues, and help your child decide in advance what his or her convictions will be, based on God's word."-Passport to Purity

She's going to be so excited I'm sharing this with you! LOL! But really, we had a fantastic time. It was a great program that gave us lots to talk about. I really appreciated how P2P in the end, puts the ball in your child's court to make their own decisions. All we can do is give them the info., keep the lines of communication open and pray like CRAZY that they make good decisions!

We stayed in the historic Benson Hotel downtown Portland. She drank more than her fair share of Starbucks Strawberry and Cream Frappuccinos!

We went to the Pita Pit. Yum, Yum! And, one of the few meals I stayed on my "new eating plan"!!

And, last but definitely in her book not least (no pun intended)... the infamous Powell's! This is where we could have both spent most of the day but cherished the few hours.

(the shoes she wore, thought you may enjoy them!)